Recycle dry hops?
- Thread starter gannawdm
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reusing hops? NO.. do you reuse yesterdays coffee grounds? the idea is to soak out the hop oil either way
Just because "dry hopping" hops don't bitter the beer doesn't mean that the bittering compounds remain within them. Maybe they do, but I wouldn't count on it. I don't know as a matter of fact, but I wouldn't make the assumption, either. In any case, I would not reuse them.
step
Well-Known Member
These are oils we are talking about. Maybe I am way off base,but it is my understanding that these oils are soluble in alcohol, however, they can be extracted in the boil as well. Oils are volatile compounds and the the most fragile and subtle compounds are affected by minor heat(the ones that produces the "aroma"). So it would stand to reason that the bittering capabilities of hops are released by heat and that "dry hopped" hops would still have a certain bittering capability due to their lack of being boiled. The oils that require higher heat would still be present right?
To summarize this drunken post... I am in agreement with the OP and am wondering if anyone has experimented with this.
To summarize this drunken post... I am in agreement with the OP and am wondering if anyone has experimented with this.
Originally I thought this wasn't a good idea but I remembered the french press technique for saving hops. You steep hops in a french press with hot water to extract the aroma and flavor, then strain out the water, add the hops to the boil to bitter then add the water back in at the end to add in aroma.
If hot water wont remove the bittering capacity then dry hopping might not either, although there is alcohol present in the later, which could change things.
If hot water wont remove the bittering capacity then dry hopping might not either, although there is alcohol present in the later, which could change things.
gannawdm
Well-Known Member
no i don't reuse coffee ground on a regular basis. why? because I have tried it in the past and it was terrible, so i learned from my experience. hops are not coffee. that's why i'm asking if anybody has tried it, so i can learn from other's experiences. if nobody has tried it, then i will try it myself and report back.
SteveM
Well-Known Member
I recycle mine in my compost heap. I don't think you will be happy with your experiment results but I'm interested in hearing how it comes out.
I think this is an interesting idea. Probably would work fine.
I've done something very similar. I use a hanging hop bag. Once, I did back-to-back brews, and I used the hops from the first batch for the bittering hops for the second batch. Worked perfectly.
I've done something very similar. I use a hanging hop bag. Once, I did back-to-back brews, and I used the hops from the first batch for the bittering hops for the second batch. Worked perfectly.
BrookdaleBrew
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I read somewhere that a lot of breweries did this during the hop shortage, so it is possible.
Rundownhouse
Well-Known Member
Matt Brynildson, head brewer at Firestone Walker, has mentioned they've done this in the past.
steveo929
Well-Known Member
Lots of people do it (I intend to very soon) with great results:
http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/1898207
http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/1898207
Yes and it works just fine. Much discussed and practiced 2-3 years ago when there was a major hop shortage. Freeze them if you won't be using them within a few days. And remember they are water-logged, so use 4-5 times as much by weight.
Huh, you learn something new every day. I was pretty skeptical, too.
barroomhero1234
Well-Known Member
I've herd some people do it but you could never tell the AA's left, I would not but maybe in a pinch or for the hell of it.. well still no.
But people have done it!
But people have done it!
Yea, I agree. When I did it, not only did I reuse the hops from a batch I made earlier that day, but i also reused the grain and yeast. The beer cost me $0.00. It wasn't that good, either!
I'm sure this would work. One problem with it would be that if you like the beer it produces it will be very difficult to reproduce.
MonkeyWrench
Well-Known Member
I would do this as well, probably used as a 20 min addition where you are not counting heavily on their remaining bittering or flavor/aroma qualities.
Or make a hop tea or french press them and add thay to your next brew.
Or make a hop tea or french press them and add thay to your next brew.
clevernonsense
Member
Compost tea is not tasty, but my plants like it.
clevernonsense
Member
This is my thinking as well. Length of dry hopping, temperature, ABV, pH, etc. etc. are all going to be a factor, so reusing them would require a lot of quality control to get reproduceable results. I also am not sure if this would "open" up the tannins in hops to be more readily extracted in a boil.
If you can enforce absolute consistency, then you could experiment I suppose.
I have however, after racking out of a secondary with dry hops, racked another brew or cider INTO the carboy with the leftover hops (so basically reusing the hops for a second round of dry hopping). It's a lot more subtle, even with a much longer dry hop--and sometimes I do it just to avoid the need for cleaning out the carboy fully
